Still Kicking

Well, it's been nearly two months since my last entry. I thought I'd better create a posting so you all would know I am still alive and kicking. I am doing very well. I can't remember the last incident of angina pain so I guess the EECP keeps working well after the therapy is over.

I am in the process of preparing to relocate to Sedona, Arizona and hope to have made the move by the end of June at the latest. I will keep you posted on the reason I have moved more than halfway across the country once I get settled in. Those who know me will be in for quite a surprise, I am sure.

Also, look for a change in the subject matter of this blog come the summertime. I started it in 2004 as an effort to alert unsuspecting patients to the unscrupulous practice of putting greed before the patient's welfare. I still believe way too many CABGs are performed in the United States but my life has taken a huge turn that has prompted me to choose one cause over the other. I will still rant about cardiologists who coerce their patient's families into getting unnecessary and expensive surgery. The medical terrorists, as Dr. Howard Wayne referred to them, will get know peace from this quarter.

Take care for now and remember always get a second opinion before allowing them to cut.

Update #5

I continue to be free of angina pain after once again dodging the knife of the cardio-thoracic surgeon. Just to bring you up to date, I once again opted to treat my coronary artery disease medically rather than through bypass surgery. My faith still lies with my former cardiologist, Howard Wayne, who explained angiogenesis and the collateral vessel system to me back in 2004, when I sought a second opinion from him.

Since the addition of Isordil to my medication regimen, my blood pressure fluctuates between 128/72 and 96/55. The lower blood pressures are always obtained in the evening. I would like my BP to become approximately 90/50 at all times when I am at rest. That should control the hypertension I was experiencing when I was under physical or emotional stress.

The good news is that I have not had an angina attack since the one that sent me to the emergency room of the Indiana Heart Hospital last month.

Update #4

This entry in my blog contains some references to sexual activity. If you find this embarrassing, please read no further. Also, patients on nitrates are advised to consult their cardiologist before attempting what you read here.

Valentine's Day came and went and my vital signs stayed pretty much the same as they had the day before. The Isordil has not lowered the blood pressure to anywhere the 90/50 level that I maintained it at from 2004 to 2006. I am somewhat disappointed at the progress but will maintain my dosages at 5/10/15mg at 7 am, 1 pm and 7 pm.

On February 15, I did try something different. Anticipating the opportunity for intimate activities with my significant-other, I decided to forgo the 7 pm dose of Isordil and to take 20mg of Levitra at 8:00 pm instead. Now I realize all the furor that occurred when Viagra was blamed for the heart attacks of some men who took it shortly after approval by the FDA. The warning that this drug could cause low blood pressure and heart attacks was added to Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

The correlation between these drugs and heart attacks is a very tenuous one as far as I am concerned. In my humble layman's opinion, the fact that they also lower the blood pressure can be taken into consideration by the person on nitrates and these drugs can be adjusted accordingly. As I said above, I did not take my 15mg dose of Isordil at 7 pm and popped a 20mg tablet of Levitra at 8 pm.

I felt no untoward side effects. My blood pressure did drop significantly by 10 pm however. It went from 116/62 with a 68 pulse at 6 pm to 88/46 with a pulse of 72 at 10 pm. It should be noted, the 88/46 is about what I want my BP to register at rest all of the time.

My significant-other and I engaged in intimate sexual activities for approximately an hour and then rested. By 1 am, my blood pressure was 112/56 and the pulse was 68. We then went to sleep, waking at approximately 6 am for another session of intimate activities which lasted about a half hour. There were no negative side effects and I felt absolutely no angina during these two sessions.

Given the drop in blood pressure that followed ingestion of the 20mg of Levitra, perhaps this drug should be used to control blood pressure as well as treat erectile dysfunction. I would be interested in hearing from cardiologists what they think about this Levitra experiment I conducted last night. Also, if you are a patient on nitrates, I would be curious if you have had any experience taking one of these drugs.

I am not suggesting that anyone on nitrates attempt to do what I did last night without first seeking the advice of competent medical authority. I did and received two totally different answers. One physician told me to definitely not do it. The other said, "Go ahead and try it, you never follow my advice anyway."

Again, let me reiterate that I believe the correlation between nitrates and drugs that treat erectile dysfunction has not been properly studied. In my opinion, it is like saying since 50% of the men who had a heart attack ate red meat within 24 hours of their cardiac event that the meat was the cause of their heart attack. I will admit the drop in blood pressure could be troublesome, particularly if the person has never maintained their blood pressure at rest that low.